


We Just Lived For Fun

by writingbuzz



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Boyfriends, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, caring!Alex, hurt!Charlie, worried!Alex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25094620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingbuzz/pseuds/writingbuzz
Summary: Charlie gets hurt playing baseball, but Alex is there is make sure he is alright.
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Alex Standall
Comments: 8
Kudos: 81





	We Just Lived For Fun

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I think in the series the football team also played baseball, but I'm not sure. For the sake of the story, they do. 
> 
> Title is taken from 'These Are The Days Of Our Lives' by Queen. 
> 
> Enjoy!

His aim is shit.

Like, unbelievably bad. But still, when Charlie had come up to him asking if he could help him out with some pre-baseball season workout, he didn't have the heart to tell him so. Maybe - he thought - it wasn't as bad as he remembered. But it was.

It was even worse.

And what may be even worse, is the fact that Charlie just keeps on smiling. Even after the tenth time that he had to run in a completely different direction to catch the ball that Alex had thrown. Sweaty and out of breath, but still with that ten thousand-watt smile on his face. Alex had apologized, trying to convince his boyfriend to ask someone else to practice with him, but Charlie persisted. Claiming this was only helping him work on his hand-eye coordination and footwork.

Alex didn't even really get what they were doing. When they started Charlie had tried to get Alex to use the baseball bat to hit the balls, but Alex only managed to hit one out of the five balls Charlie had thrown at him, and that one didn't even go into the field. Instead, it had gone sideways into the lake which lay a good forty feet to the left of where Alex was standing. Luckily Charlie had brought some spare ones. Still, they decided to leave the baseball bat with the car and Alex was now just throwing the balls as far as he could and Charlie would run after them and try to catch them with the baseball glove on his left hand.

And it wasn't all bad, really. Whenever he managed to actually throw a decent ball in Charlie's direction, he would feel a sense of pride from the enthusiastic ' _whoop!_ ' Charlie would exclaim. Alex knew he had two left hands - which in his case was even more concerning - but Charlie somehow managed to turn it into something that wasn't necessarily bad or a burden.

And besides, Alex could image worse ways to spend his afternoon than watching his boyfriend running around, chasing and catching balls. The irony of the golden retriever comment he made all those weeks ago is not lost on him.

Seeing as the fields at school were claimed by the cheerleading squad, they had to drive to some other field. Alex had never been here, but Charlie assured him that he and the boys would often come here to get some extra hours of practice in on the weekends. The field big enough to lay out the bases of a baseball field.

They had been here for a good while, but Charlie still seemed to be full of energy, albeit a bit out of breath. Alex' arm, however, was really starting to ache, not used to the strenuous activity. Charlie had offered to stop for the day, but Alex was just starting to feel as if he was getting the hang of it. His aim slightly improving and the range of his throws increasing. The last throw being especially good, forcing Charlie into taking a sprint and only just managing to catch the ball in his glove.

"Nice one!" Charlie shouts from where he is still standing with his left arm raised, his right hand securely covering the ball in the palm of the glove. "See, there is still hope for you," he jokes, as he jogs back to where Alex is standing.

"Yeah, who knows, maybe I'll try out for the team next year at Berkeley," he jokes back, "Only need to work on being able to actually run between the bass. Oh, and being able to hit a ball properly with a bat might be useful, too," he adds, perhaps a bit too bitter judging by the look he gets from Charlie, who is now standing in from of him.

"Come on, you're doing that self- _deprecating_ thing again. Baseball just isn't your game," he begins, a grin already starting to form on his face as he steps even closer to Alex, "But I happen to have heard you can be a beast at the gym. Doing squats and all that," he punctuates his comment with a squeeze at his ass - to which Alex certainly doesn't reply with a surprised squeak - "Maybe you could teach me a thing or two?" he finished cheekily.

Alex huffs out a laugh but can feel a blush creep up his face. He puts a hand on Charlie's chest and pushes him back, "We'll see about that" he counters, "Now give me that ball," he holds up his hand with his eyebrows raised. Charlie - who had already started to walk back - turns around and throws the ball with a neat arch back at Alex, who manages to catch is with minimal fumbling.

Once Charlie is back at his place, some fifty feet away from Alex, he gets back in position, ready to chase after the ball.

"You ready, st. George?" he calls and moves to steady himself in his stance. "Come on then, Standall. Show me those skills." his boyfriend replies teasingly.

Alex swings his arm back and puts as much force as his tired muscles can manage into swinging his arm up and forwards. His aim a bit off to the right, going behind Charlie whose left side was facing him. As soon as Chalie makes move to chase after the ball - his face already turned over his shoulder to look at the ball as it flies by - Alex knows it's going wrong.

Whether the exhaustion of the past few hours is finally catching up to him, or maybe Charlie's coordination just failed him, but when he tries to move his left leg around his right to change the direction his body is facing, the toes of his shoe seem to catch behind the calf of his right leg. His body twists for a moment, out of balance, before he falls ungraciously to the ground. An undignified yelp leaving his mouth.

It takes Alex a second to process what happened, but as soon as he realizes that Charlie doesn't seem to make an attempt at getting up he runs - or well, stumbles in his case - towards where Charlie is lying down on the grass.

When he gets close enough to the other boy, he is relieved to see that at least he is still conscious. The fall not being that hard. He's already turned over on his back and is now pushing himself up on his arms into a sitting position. His glove thrown aside.

"Fuck, are you okay?" Alex worries as he crouches down next to Charlie. His hands hovering over Charlie's shoulder, for some reason scared of touching him in case he is actually hurt somewhere.

"Yeah, uh I guess. My ankle, though," there is a pained look on his face, his discomfort clear from tension in his face. A foreign look for Charlie, who always seems to shrug things off. Alex had seen him do so many times on the field. This, in some way, only feeds into Alex' concern for his boyfriend.

Alex leans forward on his knees, "Which one is it? Can you move it?" he touches a soft hand against the side of Charlie's leg and looks up at his face. "My right foot, but I don't thi-" he is cut off by a sharp hiss of pain leaving between his teeth. Looking back down, Alex can see Charlie trying to flex his foot. And failing to. "Okay, yeah, no. That _really_ hurts." Charlie concedes, a dejected look on his face. 

Alex looks around, as if a solution is hiding in the bushes behind the field. Hating the fact that he has no idea what he should do. Knowing that if it were the other way around Charlie would know exactly what to do. But this is not the moment to dwell on that. He looks back at Charlie, "Can you stand?" he finally asks. Charlie seems to contemplate it for a moment, and then nods, "Yeah, if you could just give me a hand getting up?"

He gets to his feet, and extend a hand down to Charlie who gladly takes a grasp of it. With one hand Charlie pushes himself up from the ground, while Alex pulls him up. Balanced on his left leg he manages to make it upright. The motion moving their combined point of gravitation, making Charlie stumble a bit into Alex who is quick to let go of his hand in favour of stabilizing him at his waist. Their faces mere inches from each other.

Up close Alex notices that Charlie looks a bit pale - although that could be Alex' imagination. He doesn't look good, that's for sure. His face covered in a thin layer of sweat. The pained look is now even more prominent. Still, Charlie manages a smile, "Don't worry, I probably just have to ice it. Should be fine," he tries to reassure Alex, and for a moment Alex wonders what look he is wearing on his face for Charlie to try and reassure _him_ while Charlie is the one hopping around on his left leg. He tries to school his features into a more relaxed look and nods, "Yeah, you're probably right. Think you can make it to the car?"

Charlie carefully puts down his foot and tries to estimate whether he actually can walk to the car. However, before he can make up his mind Alex is moving around to his right side, "Here, try to put some of your weight on me," he tells Charlie as he winds an arm around his waist. Charlie gives him a thankful look, his ankle hurting more than he likes to admit.

Together, they manage to get to the passenger side of Charlie's car. Alex opening the door and helping Charlie get in.

"I'll just quickly get our stuff and then we'll head home," he tells Charlie and turns around to retrieve the baseball gloves and balls strewn around on the field. Momentarily regretting throwing that last ball so far out, now having to walk himself to get it.

The drive back is relatively quiet, Charlie has his head pressed back against his headrest, his eyes closed. Alex can't help but shoot his boyfriend worried looks every once in a while. He knows that it probably isn't anything more than a sprained ankle, but he doesn't like feeling so out of control. Not knowing how he can help Charlie, who is clearly in pain.

It's about half an hour later that he pulls up in front of Charlie's house and kills the engine. They make quick work of getting up the steps of the front porch and manage to situate Charlie on the couch in the living room with minimal stumbling. "I'll just quickly call my mom, she probably knows what's best to do with a sprain," he tells Charlie and turns around to the kitchen to get some ice and do as he said.

As expected, when Alex explains to his mom what happened she also suspects a sprain and tells him to ice the foot to help prevent too much swelling. After a quick search of the freezer, however, Alex comes up empty on an ice-pack so he settles for a bag of frozen peas and wraps it tightly in a towel hanging next to the sink.

When he gets back to the living room Charlie has taken of his shoe and sock on his right foot. A nasty bruise already starting to appear at the bridge of his foot. He can't help but wince in sympathy, "So, my mom thinks you have a grade 1 sprain, which means you probably didn't tear anything. As you said, you need to cool it and stay off of it for a few days," Charlie takes the wrapped peas with a thankful smile and carefully puts it on his foot, a wince going through his shoulders at the weight of the makeshift icepack on his painful joint.

"You want me to grab you some painkillers?" he asks, but Charlie shakes his head, "Nah, I'm all good. Not the first time this has happened, you know? It's kind of a recurring thing with football," he replies nonchalantly. 

Alex takes a seat next to Charlie on the couch and presses his right leg up against Charlie's left. "Anything else I can do?" he asks. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see a cheeky smile forming on Charlie's face, "You know what the best medicine is for a painful ankle?" Alex looks at him with raised eyebrows, "Do tell?" he replies. "Some quality cuddles from this cute boy I seem to spend an awful lot of time with." Alex rolls his eyes at the cheesiness of that comment, but still plays along, "Oh, and where do I find this cute boy? I may or may not have a thing or two to say to him about spending time with my boyfriend." Charlie laughs and throws an arm around his shoulders, pulling him even closer.

They end up putting on some random movie on Netflix that neither of them is really interested in, while they situate themselves more comfortably on the couch. Charlie laying on the couch with his foot resting on a pillow with Alex lying next to him, cuddled into his side, a secure arm around his waist to prevent him from tumbling off the couch.

With the white noise of the movie playing in the background, they find themselves slowly falling into a slumber. Comforted by each other's presence.

And that's how Charlie's father finds them a few hours later. The movie long over, and the two boys lost in dreamland but secure in each other's embrace.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!


End file.
